Bailey Stamp, the Ladycat’s tennis team’s number one player, was honored with the Most Valuable Player Award at the 2017 Fall Athletic Banquet. She was so excited to receive the plaque, she said that all of the hard work that she had put into tennis paid off that night. Taylor Starkey also won an award, which was extremely exciting for her because that was her first ever award. Taylor was this year’s Most Improved Player on the team. Both girls have been playing since their freshman years and have loved the game ever since. Although Bailey is graduating she said she would like to continue to play tennis when she has the time and Taylor is going to keep playing for her senior year next year.

The Ladycats gained some new players this year, two freshman and a junior. Elizabeth Hinkle had a great year of tennis, as she got the honor of playing on varsity for her first year. Liz’s favorite part of the year were the bus rides and she plans on having more good times next year. Elie Fischer is another of tennis’s newest recruits. Elie Fischer learned a lot throughout her first year, like “how to run up a hill.” Her favorite memory from the season was getting to eat ice cream after practice. Elie said that Liz convinced her to try tennis out with her and they both feel like their tennis game is strong. Arihana Green, a junior, recently moved to Fredericktown and decided to give tennis a try. Her favorite memory was making new friends on the team. She feels like she’s improved over the course of the year and is going to finish out her senior year playing. If there was one thing she learned, it would be to “not stand so close to the net, or you’ll wipe out.” All the girls had a successful and fun season and will have an even greater one next year.